October 3, 2009Iraq’s oil legislation likely delayed
Baghdad - Iraq is expected to put off passing its long-delayed oil and gas legislation until after national polls in January, the head of the Iraqi parliament’s oil and gas committee said yesterday.
“All the indications point to the fact there is no hope for putting the oil and gas law on the agenda during the time remaining for this parliament,” said Ali Hussain Balou, a Kurdish politician and sharp critic of Iraq’s Oil Ministry.
“Due to the insurmountable conflicts between political blocs, passage of this law could be delayed until the next parliament,” he said.
The global oil industry has been waiting for years for passage of the legislation, which includes a law on how to share revenues from oil exports between Iraq’s various regions and a law resurrecting the national Iraqi oil company. But the laws have been tied up in an entrenched feud between minority Kurds and the Arab-led government in Baghdad over control of oil resources, land and power.
Investors see the law as crucial to establishing a clear legal framework that will minimise risks in a country already seen as fraught with security and legal dangers.
Meanwhile, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has increased its stake in a project to develop the super-giant Rumaila oilfield, while Britain’s BP has lowered its share, an Iraqi oil official said on Saturday.
BP and CNPC were the only oil majors to secure a deal in Iraq’s first bidding round for oilfield service contracts, after other companies at the Oil Ministry’s June auction baulked at what they said were stiff contract terms.
